One thing I have learned from history is that we never learn from history. A few decades ago, a small group of people including Dorothy Vaughan dared to challenge what was then the conventional belief that "urban renewal" was progress and that it was a good thing which could not and should not be stopped.

We now realize that she saved at least part of Portsmouth's unique and immensely valuable identity. We lost one neighborhood, the North End, from character buildings, but saved another from destruction and replacement by high rise. Today the eyesore known as the federal building stands as a reminder of what could have happened to more of our great city. That uphill battle against some people's horrible vision of "progress" was victorious and today, we are all beneficiaries.

Yet, amazingly, today we hear that same voice: "Progress!" Why would anyone get in its way? We have clearly not learned from this important relatively recent history. Look at the disfiguring of the city that's already happened; the new canyons, outsized big-box buildings that greet people as they come in on Maplewood Avenue. It's a shock to the eyes, totally obscuring the city of Portsmouth.

Now we have bullying developers childishly threatening to take their ball and go where they're wanted if they don't get to play the way they want to. Some have again stood up to protect our economically valuable unique character and identity.

And maybe we really have lost this battle. Tourists are already shocked at what's been done. Future generations will look at what has happened and say, "What were they thinking? How could they have let this happen?"